writer – artist – designer

My least favorite part of painting is framing the composition. Unfortunately, these Kidwell Farm paintings are all about structure, shapes and angles, so I have to get things believable–not right, necessarily–but at least believable. Here is the drawing and some first washes for the one I started tonight. There’s an incredible shadow cast from right to left that I am looking forward to putting in and some interesting effects of lights within the shadow.

On Friday I got a new brush that I am very excited about and used for the first time tonight–an Escoda Optimo kolinsky sable #12 (shown above). I have wanted a large sable brush for a while. When I finally convinced myself to buy one, all the stores were out due to some regulatory issue regarding importing the hair. Fortunately this one came in somehow. I am looking forward to testing it out more. So far so good on the above. I’d recommend it, and as far as Kolinsky sable goes, it’s a great deal. Escoda makes beautiful brushes, and I can’t imagine how anything else could be materially better. I was comfortable with this one right away. It’s likely to become my primary brush for non-sketchbook works. Of course this painting isn’t going to be the best test case. I will have to do something more lively and brush-stroke driven for the next one.